


hey good lookin'

by frozenlychee



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:55:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24254716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frozenlychee/pseuds/frozenlychee
Summary: “You’re like a brother to me, D.”Yet, he would be lying to say he didn't wish for more, sometimes.
Relationships: Stephanie Brown/Damian Wayne
Kudos: 36





	hey good lookin'

**Author's Note:**

> title from [Blonde Tongues](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws4908LsEAo).

Damian takes a step back from the girl he has known almost his entire life. Leaving behind wistful thinking that he doesn’t dare to ever fulfil. “Goodnight,” he says, keen eyes hidden behind dark lashes, steadying himself as he leaps off the patrolling station.

Maybe it's best they stay this way.

It’s half-past two in the morning when he passes the grandfather clock in the living room. The ghost of the past seems to be haunting him no matter what he does, because, for one split second, he feels as if he was ten again, biting back tears that he knew would be bitter to taste. The only difference is, she's not here to comfort him while he builds himself back up now. Not when he knows it's his stupid infatuation of her that sends him here, resting his forehead against the cold wall while he wishes the faint aching in his chest would die down even more. Diluting into a dream he doesn't have to face right now.

The bed sinks down when he climbs back in, tired limbs bury himself under heavy blankets. He feels small, so small and maybe he still is in her gentle eyes. Maybe he will forever remain that way in her beautiful, delicate eyes.

_“You’re like a brother to me, D.”_

Stephanie is right. The years of seeing him as a kid in her eyes cannot be erased within a week. The years of building up their relationship dynamic cannot be shifted within the ten days he pursues her. The years of her loving him like her own family cannot be thrown away simply because his brain decides to have a ridiculous crush on her right now. But what if it hasn’t been spontaneous. What if it has been something that he keeps running away from until its monstrous claw catches up and engulfs him raw with one swallow?

What if he has been here before, feeling something swirling inside his guts over a text with her, serotonin fills his brain at the sight of her existence, and therefore, has taken desperate measure to avoid it altogether. To kill all the butterflies in his stomach because he knows, at least, knew back then that he wouldn’t be able to treat her right?

Damian sighs into rough palms. There’s a broken cry in the back of his throat, small and helpless, and he wonders if this is what she still perceives him as, a miserable child who needs to be treated with care and honesty. And maybe, that is why he falls for her. Perhaps, that is why he likes to think of her as a safe haven, sometimes. Reasonably, that is why he pictures their warm hands brush against each other, hers soft against his calloused fingers, pale cheeks flush pink while his own blush red, sometimes.

But she thinks of him as a little brother of her own despite their lack of shared DNA. She thinks of him as a part of her make-shift family and he can’t fault her for that. He will never fault her for that.

Their bond goes beyond temporary infatuation and Damian will always acknowledge that.

Yet, he would be lying to say he didn’t wish for more, _sometimes_.

**Author's Note:**

> wrote this while going through something similar. ah, unrequited crush on someone you know your entire life is _truly_ sad.


End file.
